Conventionally, a desktop appliance is a machine allowing a user to access a resource provided by a remote computer via a networked display protocol such as Citrix ICA, Microsoft RDP, VNC, or the X11 protocol. The remote computer may execute a single user operating system, such as Windows XP or Windows Vista, or a multi-user operating system such as Windows Server 2003 or 2008 that allows multiple independent connections to separate virtual desktops, the different users of the independent connections capable of having different levels of authorization privileges. The desktop appliance may execute a local operating system to handle basic functions, such as receiving user input and rendering the output data generated by the resource provided by the remote computer.
In some systems, the desktop appliance may be configured to operate in such a way that the user of the desktop appliance is unaware that the resource is not executing locally on the desktop appliance. This lack of awareness may leave the user vulnerable to security risks. In other systems, the user is aware that the resource is not executing locally but is prevented from interacting with the local operating system, or may be provided with limited access to the local operating system. In some of these conventional systems, a user may be prevented from accessing desired functionality. In other conventional systems, providing a user with multiple interfaces for accessing both a local and remote operating system may lead to user confusion and inefficiency.